


Burnt From Both Ends (Or How Pancakes Cure Old Wounds)

by Talvenhenki



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:21:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27992928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talvenhenki/pseuds/Talvenhenki
Summary: Lancelot has been unhappy as of late. Leon is worried.Apparently, making pancakes help.
Relationships: Lancelot/Leon (Merlin)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Burnt From Both Ends (Or How Pancakes Cure Old Wounds)

**Author's Note:**

> I got a fic idea last night and I needed to get this out of my system. Leoncelot is a very sweet ship and I need to make more content for it when I feel like I can.

Leon was humming. It was Saturday, which meant no work for him or Lancelot. Leon liked teaching, but sometimes the teenagers were a bit too much even for him. Especially considering that history wasn’t in the top 5 of almost anyone’s favourite subjects. Sometimes, although rarely, Leon envied Lancelot for his job teaching at the elementary school, because he got to teach little kids basic life skills such as reading, writing and easy math. Why had Leon not decided to become an elementary school teacher as well?

Flipping the fourth pancake, Leon sighed. Lancelot had been rather gloomy as of late, which worried Leon. Lancelot, even when he was heartbroken, never showed his sadness to anyone. He’d always rather smile and joke around instead of allowing the others to worry. The fact that Lancelot didn’t even try to mask his sadness this time made Leon feel especially sad. Something was bugging Lancelot and he probably did not even have the words to explain it to Leon.

As the fifth pancake began to fry, something bumped against Leon. Arms wrapped around his waist as a head leaned on Leon’s shoulder.

“Morning”, Leon whispered, rubbing his cheek on Lancelot’s wild curls, “sleep well?”

Sighing, Lancelot shook his head against Leon’s shoulder. He had been having less than enough sleep as of late – was it a symptom of being sad, or was it the reason Lancelot was so gloomy? Leon did not know.

Looking down at Lancelot’s arms, Leon chuckled. “Is that my hoodie?” he asked. “Are you cold?”

“Yeah”, Lancelot breathed. His voice was so hollow that it felt like someone had squeezed at Leon’s heart.

“Remind me to give you more of my clothes, then”, Leon said, smiling, “you’re so much smaller than me that they look cute on you. Besides, you only have two sweaters and no hoodies. You need more warm clothes.”

Lancelot had lost his mother as a teenager, and although his father had been wealthy, providing to five children, out of which Lancelot was the middle child, had not been easy. Lancelot had often been given his older brother’s old clothes, and when Lancelot had grown as tall as his brother, his father had only been able to buy a few new clothes for Lancelot every year. Years later, Lancelot still never bought many clothes to himself, almost as if he thought he didn’t deserve any.

Squeezing his hands, Lancelot sighed again. He really was not doing good.

“I’m almost done with the pancakes”, Leon said softly, “could you make some tea for us? We can have our breakfast in the living room.”

“Sure.” Lancelot let go of Leon and mechanically began to prepare the tea. From the corner of his eye, Leon noticed that Lancelot decided on the rose tea made by his aunt, which confirmed it. Lancelot was not feeling alright and he was trying to treat his misery with his aunt’s tea, which reminded him of home and easier times. He was wearing more clothes than he would at the time of year, which Leon had learnt was a sign that Lancelot was sad – being sad took a lot of energy, which made Lancelot cold.

Making their way to the living room, Leon carried the pancakes and the teapot while Lancelot took care of the plates and teacups. Lancelot stayed quiet while Leon chatted with him, trying to cheer up his sweet boyfriend.

Sitting down on the sofa, Leon reached his arms out to Lancelot. “Come here, Lance. Let me hold you a bit.”

Lancelot obliged, resting his head in the spot between Leon’s neck and shoulder. Leon pulled him close and wrapped a blanket over both of them. Kissing Lancelot’s forehead, Leon rubbed his back to bring some warmth to him.

“What about breakfast?” Lancelot asked softly. He had wrapped his arms around Leon’s waist again, seeking comfort from him. “Are we not going to eat, or what?”

“Let’s give the tea some time to cool a bit”, Leon whispered, “I don’t want to burn my mouth.”

“Good idea.”

For a few minutes, they lay there is perfect silence. Leon played with Lancelot’s wild curls as Lancelot clung onto Leon, as if Leon were the only thing keeping Lancelot together. It was uncharacteristic for Lancelot who always tried to survive everything by himself. On the other hand, Leon was grateful to be the one Lancelot trusted enough to ask for help, as wordlessly as he did, but on the other hand, it made Leon feel bad because surely Lancelot wasn’t doing well if he acted so clingy.

“Lance”, Leon said, “you’ve been pretty unhappy lately. Why is that?”

Lancelot exhaled. “It’s the anniversary soon”, he explained, “and ever since dad’s accident, I’ve been trying to look after him on top of my work. It’s like…I’ve been burning the candle on both ends. If Lydia hadn’t noticed it, I think I would have collapsed. She got Uncle Martin to look after dad, seeing as he’s already retired. She told me to rest, but I’ve had no time to do so, not with the anniversary of mom’s death coming up so soon.”

Shaking his head, Leon sighed. “And you haven’t talked about this with your father?”

Lancelot chuckled dryly. “No. You know what he’s like. He never taught us to talk about our emotions at all because he was so afraid of his own. He asked our aunts to talk to Lucy about emotions because she was so young when mom passed; the rest of us had to scrape by.”

Leon pursed his lips. Sometimes he disliked Lancelot’s father for the way he’d been when Lancelot had been young and vulnerable. Of course, he had been a product of his time, but Leon wished he’d done more for all his children – as the middle child, Lancelot had often been cast away which reflected to his present relationships.

Noticing Leon’s silence, Lancelot whispered, “he’s not a bad man, Leon.”

“I know”, Leon said, “but I wish he’d treated you better. You would have deserved a lot better than you got.”

Lancelot nodded. “He’s trying, though. Just two days ago, he told me he loved me. He’d never said it before, and – this sounds so stupid – it caught me so off guard that it made me cry. That’s when Lydia decided I needed a break from caring for him.”

Leon remembered that evening. Lancelot had come home late, his eyes red and puffy. He had said something about having gotten a lift from Lydia before he’d disappeared into the shower. Leon had made some salmon soup – the creamy kind – which had relaxed Lancelot a bit.

Suddenly, there was wetness on Leon’s shoulder. He looked at Lancelot and saw that he’d begun to cry. He looked slightly confused, as if he hadn’t been expecting tears. Blinking his eyes, he was trying to stop them, but it didn’t seem to work.

“Hey”, Leon breathed, “I’ve got you. I’m here.”

Leon pulled Lancelot closer as Lancelot let out a barely audible sob. Clinging onto Leon, Lancelot trembled. Leon rubbed his back and whispered sweet nothings into his ear, trying to comfort him.

“Come Monday”, Leon said as Lancelot had calmed down a bit, “you should get a doctor’s appointment. You’re seriously burnt out and you need some rest. The doctor can prescribe you some sick leave and something to help you sleep. This weekend, I’ll spoil you for a bit. You deserve it.”

Lancelot nodded, smiling tearfully. Leon smiled as well and cut one of the pancakes into smaller pieces to be able to feed them to Lancelot. Lancelot leaned back and let Leon feed him, knowing how much love Leon had put into his pancakes.

Smiling, Lancelot whispered, “thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, please comment!
> 
> Notes:  
> \- I'm new to Leoncelot. I like it a lot; it's a great ship  
> \- Leon is a mom friend and likes to care for everyone  
> \- Modern au Lance's backstory changes every time. I can't help it  
> \- Honestly, I just wanted some fluff  
> \- No proofreading, we die like non-binary individuals  
> \- Now I gotta go, I have a German grammar class!


End file.
